Naming Cats

by Nellie Curtiss ….

When Mama cat had the seven-count litter in my backyard, I began searching for names for all of them.

I based their names on Winnie the Pooh characters. The first was Tigger and his sister Pooh. These two cats lounged in the sun next to the waist high bushes that hid them when they weren’t wrestling in my front yard. Tigger, bouncy, and Pooh, mellow and timid, are yellow-orange tabbies with bright blue eyes.

When they were about 6 weeks old, I began playing with them using a string I retracted under the door. This sly movement of the string caught their attention. They jumped after it, pounced on it, and carried it in their mouth. The first to develop friendship around the string was Tigger and Pooh. Then Eeyore – totally black kitten with nervous vibe, and then the dark tabbies—Scrappy and LoopieLoo.

I named the mother of the brood: mama Kanga like Kanga in the story. One of her kitties was a tortoise-shell coloring just like her. The exception was the baby had a bright line down her face and was curious as the baby kangaroo in the story.  I named that kitten, Rooroo. (Kanga and Rooroo were their names.)

Scrappy, the brown-grey tabby, got into one fight and then another. He earned his name Scrappy because he was in this scrap with that kitty and another scuffle with the other kitty. LoopieLoo had an injury to her wrist that seemed to make a loop. Thus, her name was LoopieLoo.

Harley earned his name when he scouted out my neighbor’s Harley Davidson. I said to myself, “Ah ha, that’s your name: Harley.” His tortoise-shell colored sister from their longhaired mother tabby is still: Torti. Although Mama Two’s tail is limp and probably injured several years ago when she fended off a racoon attacking her kittens, she still chows down here.

Then there is Punky who got her name because her all white hair was all ratted, matted, and electrified. She looked like a 90s punk rocker as she skipped her meals in favor of hiding in the lilac bushes away from her tormenters.

Alfie came late to our mix and his physical appearance suggested Alfalfa from Our Gang, a series from the 30s or 40s. Although he is mostly a white cat, his dark markings seem to part down the middle like Alfalfa’s hair. Where Alfalfa had a lone hair at the back, Alfie’s dark tail shoots up like that single unruly hair on Alfalfa’s head.

In the late spring of 2018, SLV Cats Alive’s Marge Hauer and Evette Cernon-Young trapped the kittens and Mama Kanga for spay and neutering and one round of immunizations. Then a little kitten (exhibiting microcephaly) whose body seemed a weird fit for such a tiny head appeared in the mix. He was trapped and neutered; but he was held back because of an infection. During the time with the cat nurse, he whined and meowed, whined and meowed – almost continuously.

When I heard his story, Whiney Winnie was named. He was always talking. He was the resident guard cat, too; and he swatted dogs and cats who got too close to me or him. He was the instigator of running the gantlet—he was the enforcer and batted Schroeder’s rump every time he was released from the house. His nails were sharp and could catch a tail or eye. Often, he would sit on the southern window sill and meow at me. I would talk back to him from my recliner; then open the front door to have a Tet-a-Tet with him while he talked some more.

The last time that Evette had to keep him for his antibiotic course almost three weeks, he returned and meowed or talked for over an hour. I diligently sat on the back deck with him—petting him, telling him I loved him, and just listening to him. In turn, he rubbed against my legs, and balanced sweetly on my knees while I stroked his coat.

Still missing are Mama Kanga, Eeyore, Scrappy and now Whiney Winnie since January 19. If you see any of these special creatures, please let me know so that I can celebrate that they are thriving. Their names say all that needs to be said about their personalities. What a treasure to have them in my life.

— Nelda Curtiss is a retired college educator and long-time local columnist. Reach her at columnsbynellie.com or email her at columnsbynellie@gmail.com